Come write with us!

Many people believe that morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am

Writing a book, poem, or screenplay? Need deadlines? Want constructive feedback? Then this is the place for you.

Bring 5 – 10 double spaced typed pages to read. Everyone will get a chance to read.

RSVP:

This group mostly meets in person, but email rbrtsn@lapl.org if you’d prefer to join via Zoom.

Where: Robertson Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 501 S. Venice Blvd., Venice, CA 90291

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/robertson-writers-group-1

Seniors Writing Group at Studio City Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Danny Stone, a Saved by a Story member, leads an ongoing writing group for seniors. New members are welcome.

Write to prompts, share (if you want), connect with fellow seniors, hone your writing skills, and find your story.

RSVP: RSVP is recommended but not required. If you RSVP we will send you a welcome packet, guidelines, and a reminder the day before the meeting.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 1 pm

Address: 12511 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/senior-writing-group-2

Your Author: Alexander Vidal at Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event

Meet Alexander Vidal, author and illustrator of Wilds of the United States, and also the designer for the 2025 Summer Reading Challenge art! Children will have a free chance to get a copy of his book.

Where: Arroyo Seco Regional Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address: 6145 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-alexander-vidal

Virtual Event: Niko Stratis, with Yasi Salek, & The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman at Book Soup – Online Event

Niko Stratis, in conversation with Yasi Salek, will discuss The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman.

A memoir-in-essays on transness, dad rock, and the music that saves us.

When Wilco’s 2007 album Sky Blue Sky was infamously criticized as “dad rock,” Niko Stratis was a twenty-five-year-old closeted trans woman working in her dad’s glass shop in the Yukon Territory. As she sought escape from her hypermasculine environment, Stratis found an unlikely lifeline amid dad rock’s emotionally open and honest music. Listening to dad rock, Stratis could access worlds beyond her own and imagine a path forward.

In taut, searing essays rendered in propulsive and unguarded prose, Stratis delves into the emotional core of bands like Wilco and The National, telling her story through the dad rock that accompanied her along the way. She found footing in Michael Stipe’s allusions to queer longing, Radiohead’s embrace of unknowability, and Bruce Springsteen’s very trans desire to “change my clothes my hair my face”—and she found in artists like Neko Case and Sharon Van Etten that the label transcends gender. A love letter to the music that saves us and a tribute to dads like Stratis’s own who embody the tenderness at the genre’s heart, The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman rejoices in music unafraid to bare its soul.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 6 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/virtual-event-niko-stratis-conversation-yasi-salek-discusses-signs-dad-rock-made-me-woman

Writing Workshop: Under the Tree We Dream with Alex Petunia at Holy Grounds Coffee – In-Person Event

Alex Petunia leads the writing workshop Under the Tree We Dream, a monthly writing circle with generative prompts and creative community at Holy Grounds Coffee in Alhambra CA.

All writing levels welcome.

Entrance requires a drink purchase.

Join us tonight as we cozy up with some delicious drinks at @holygroundscoffee and have some fun with writing prompts and typewriter joys. See you soon.

Where: Holy Grounds Coffee

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Laura Thalassa, in conversation with Kate Golden, will discuss her new romance novel, The Curse That Binds.

A book signing will follow the event.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232

Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets

Rupo Open Mic at Back to the Grind in Riverside – In-Person Event

RUPO Open Mic is every Monday Night at Back to the Grind in Riverside.

Every Monday from 7 pm to 9 pm. Sign-ups are at 6:30 pm and in person only, $4 cash admission. See you then!

NOTE: See site for link and details.

Where: Back to the Grind, Riverside

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3575 University Ave. Riverside, CA 92501

Website: https://www.facebook.com/backtothegrind

Heather Buchta, with Gretchen McNeil, & All for the Game at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

Heather Buchta, in conversation with Gretchen McNeil, will discuss All for the Game at Vroman’s – In-Person Event

From beloved author Heather Buchta comes a juicy, mind-twisting thriller about football, romance, and the cost of playing the game.

In Texas, football is life.

For Finn Geringer, it’s a ticket to a better future. Transferring to East Pages High, Finn hopes to secure a college scholarship and a chance to provide for his grandmother. In this town where football reigns supreme, East Pages seems perfect. Until it’s not.

Finn’s girlfriend, Megan, notices rival players absent from games. As she digs deeper, her life becomes increasingly dangerous: Mysterious cars tail her, strangers issue threats, and she’s sure someone’s been in her bedroom. Is it her imagination, or is East Pages hiding a dark secret?

Meanwhile, Finn’s cousin, Brit, the head cheerleader, revels in the perks of popularity and the prestige of attending a renowned sports school. But when a football player dies, she learns that her peers are purposely keeping her in the dark. Is her popularity an illusion?

Finn must choose between pursuing his dreams or uncovering the truth. As he, Brit, and Megan unravel the team’s mysteries, they face a powerful force determined to protect the school’s legacy at all costs. From veteran author Heather Buchta comes a gripping second-guessing game of suspicion and paranoia, romance and reputation, and the lengths people will go to protect who—and what—they love.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 7 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-06-30/heather-buchta

Monday Night Fiction Workshop via Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online Zoom Event

This free Monday Night Community Writing Workshop led by Raquel Baker is a workshop in which participants are asked to bring copies of 2-3 pages of fiction to read, and to use for critique and discussion. Registration is required.

Raquel Baker earned a PhD in English Literary Studies from the University of Iowa and an MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Postcolonial and Transnational Literatures at California State University Channel Islands, teaching courses on creative writing and contemporary African literatures. Raquel has published poetry in Africology and The Arrow; fiction in Enculturation, The Daily Palette, The Womanist, and Crux; and non-fiction in Little Village; and has done readings with the Ventura County Poetry project. Raquel is passionate about discussing everything related to the craft and social significance of literature!

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center – Online event

Date: Monday the 30^th

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Let Francesca help you with all aspects of your writing!

Do you want to write professionally or for personal satisfaction and healing but aren’t sure where to start and need some inspiring tips and support? Do you have a project that needs revision? Are you feeling stuck creatively? Join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a discussion of her 12 Questions followed by free writing and Q&A. Come be a part of the supportive Lit Angels writing community and consider writing a story to share at our Valentine’s event on 2/7 for possible submission in Lit Angels Journal.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 10 am – 11 am

Join us weekly on Zoom on Tuesday mornings at 11 am for the Virtual Book Club. In July we will be discussing The River Is Waiting, a novel by Wally Lamb.

Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed by them and by his mother’s enduring faith in him, Corby begins to transcend the boundaries of his confinement, sustained by his hope that mercy and reconciliation might still be possible.

Each week we read and discuss 1/4 of the book. Please see the weekly discussion breakdown below.

Week 1: July 1: Part 1: Chapters 1 – 13 Beginning of the book to Page 131

Week 2: July 8: Part 2: Chapters 14 – 21 Pages 135 – 201

Week 3: July 15: Part 3: Chapters 22 – 31 Pages 205 – 319

Week 4: July 22: Parts 3 & 4 Page 321 to the end of the book.

Week 5: July 22: Wrap-up discussion of The River is Waiting & discussion of recommendations for other books, movies, etc.

Where: Virtual Event, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 1^st – Tuesday the 22^nd

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13985484

The Darkest Hour Book Club: A Very Bad Thing at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us to discuss A Very Bad Thing by J.T. Ellison. Copies available at the library. For adults.

With twenty hit titles, and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood. Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301 

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13646940

Your Author Talk: Gisa Nico & Frogs on the Mountain at Echo Park Library, LAPL – In-Person Kids Event

 Meet Author Gisa Nico, who will be reading and discussing her newest book Frogs on the Mountain: The Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs on Yosemite.

Join Adele on an expedition as she explores the vital role of the Yosemite Mountain Yellow-Legged Frogs in Yosemite National Park. Guided by Grace, an enthusiastic Aquatic Ecologist, and Tanveer, a dedicated Park Ranger, Adele dives into the worlds of these endangered amphibians, discovering the challenge they face and their fascinating life cycle.

And don’t forget to sign up for our Summer Reading to earn a free tote bag, stickers, books, and raffle prizes! Sign up at the Reference desk or go to lapl.org/summer to sign up virtually.

Where: Echo Park Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Address:1410 W. Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://lapl.org/whats-on/events/your-author-gisa-nico

Women and Books: The Three Lives of Cate Kay at West Hollywood Library LACL – In-Person & Online Hybrid Event

Join the book club for a hybrid (in-person and online) discussion of The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan. For adults.

Please contact the library to borrow a print copy of the book. eBook and eAudiobook are available through Libby app/OverDrive.

Summary provided by the publisher:

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now.

As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and charting a new future. But after a shocking revelation, Cate understands that returning home is the only way she’ll be a whole person again.

Where: West Hollywood Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Join participants to discuss The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim.

Rage emanates from Ji-won’s narrative in a disturbingly satisfying way. Yes, you are witnessing the creation of a serial killer, one who has heard too many men talk about women, especially Asian women, as receptacles for their desires, as delicate creatures in need of their authority and penises. Their eyes and actions deal with women like so many pieces of meat to be devoured, but they underestimate the power and anger of some, and that mistake may just kill them. Feminist horror at its best, get a copy for yourself and one for the Georges, Donalds, and Bretts you know.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 6 pm

Where: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Please email Adult/Teen Librarian, Katie McGaha, at kmcgaha@library.lacounty.gov for the virtual link.

With twenty hit titles, and a highly anticipated movie tie-in, celebrated novelist Columbia Jones is at the top of her game. But on the final night of her latest book tour, one face in the crowd makes the author collapse. And by the next morning, she’s lying dead in a pool of blood. Columbia’s death shocks the world and leaves Darian, her daughter and publicist, reeling. The police have nothing to go on—at first. But then details emerge, pointing to the author’s illicit past. And with a hungry reporter and frustrated cop on the trail, her secrets won’t stay buried long. But how many lives will they shatter as the truth comes out?

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13647132

Indie Author Night: Meet 4 Authors at Altadena Library – In-Person Event

Join us for Indie Author Night at Altadena Library.

Join us to listen to four authors read from their works, meet them, get copies of their books, and mingle with other book lovers.

This month the featured authors are: Sofia Aguilar, Totie O’Brien, Carolina Rivera Escamilla, and Desiree Zamorano.

See site for details.

Where: Altadena Library

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

Jon Cowan, in conversation with Ben H. Winters, will discuss and sign Proof: A Thriller.

From a writer and executive producer of Suits comes a riveting and gritty legal thriller about murder, cover-ups, redemption, and Los Angeles—perfect for fans of #1bestselling authors John Grisham and Scott Turow.

As a disgraced lawyer with a drinking problem that he doesn’t view as a problem, Jake West is coasting on what’s left of his charm and money. He used to be the kind of lawyer who could convince anyone of anything—until he decided to take on his father’s biggest client and prove his dad was corrupt. Now Jake finds himself almost at rock bottom, and that’s before his ex-best friend is murdered and Jake is accused of the crime.

In a desperate bid to save himself, Jake must sober up and search for the real killer, whom he suspects might be hidden in one of the case files of his father’s illustrious law firm. As he delves into a labyrinth of lies and corruption, Jake teams up with an eclectic group of equally broken people as they all must skirt the law in order to find the proof he needs…no matter the personal or professional cost.

Jon Cowan is a veteran television writer, showrunner, and executive producer with extensive experience in the legal thriller genre. He has written for hit shows like Suits, Suits: LA, Private Practice, and Bones, has written pilots for ABC, NBC, FOX, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros., NBC Universal, and 20th Century Television, and has recently adapted the works of both John Grisham and James Patterson. Jon began his career as a playwright, getting his MFA from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television. Proof is his first novel. He lives with his family in Los Angeles, where he’s hard at work on the next Jake West novel.

Ben H. Winters’ best-selling, award-winning books include Big Time, Golden State, The Quiet Boy, Underground Airlines and the Last Policeman Trilogy. His most recent work is the limited-edition comic-book series Benjamin, the first issue of which came out in June of 2025. Ben’s work for television includes work on the FX show LEGION and the historical thriller Manhunt on AppleTV. And he is the creator of the smash-hit CBS network drama Tracker.

Where: Diesel, A Bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

Address: 225 26^th St., Santa Monica, CA 90402

What Art Does by Brian Eno is an invitation to explore this vital question. It is a chance to understand how art is made by all of us. How it creates communities, opens our worlds, and can transform us.

Curious and playful, richly illustrated, full of ideas and life, it is an inspiring call to imagine a different future.

Do you think of yourself as creative, or wish that you were? Do you get inspired by a book of reflections, or do you prefer an actual workbook with tasks and prompts? Do you wish you had more people to talk with about painting, poetry or pottery?

Here is the time and the place; you just need to be here with us.

Be a part of the start – and let 2025 be your most creatively satisfying year yet!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

CALLING ALL WRITERS! Every Tuesday we’ll be having Open Mic Readings open to the public! Read your poems, fiction, and spoken word at our open mic reading EVERY TUESDAY NIGHT from 7 pm – 10 pm!

Read your poetry, fiction, spoken word, or lyrics.

Free event. 21+

Note: Please RSVP at site.

Where: The Aftermath Bar

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 7 pm – 10 pm

Address: 14537 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

Website: https://www.instagram.com

BCB x NPR Present: Sara Kehaulani Goo & Kuleana at Bel Canto Books, KUBO Long Beach – In-Person Event

Bel Canto Books is delighted to celebrate the launch of Kuleana: A Story of Family, Land, and Legacy in Old Hawai’i by Sara Kehaulani Goo.

Moderated by David Greene of KCRW.

Set in one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes, Kuleana is the story of an award-winning journalist’s effort to hold on to her family’s ancestral Hawaiian lands―and find herself along the way.

From an early age, Sara Kehaulani Goo was enchanted by her family’s land in Hawai‘i. The vast area on the rugged shores of Maui’s east side―given by King Kamehameha III in 1848―extends from mountain to sea, encompassing ninety acres of lush, undeveloped rainforest jungle along the rocky coastline and a massive sixteenth-century temple with a mysterious past.

When a property tax bill arrives with a 500 percent increase, Sara and her family members are forced to make a decision about the property: fight to keep the land or sell to the next offshore millionaire. When Sara returns to Maui from the mainland, she reconnects with her great-uncle Take and uncovers the story of how much land her family has already lost over generations, centuries-old artifacts from the temple, and the insidious displacement of Native Hawaiians by systemic forces.

Part journalistic offering and part memoir, Kuleana interrogates deeper questions of identity, legacy, and what we owe to those who come before and after us. Sara’s breathtaking story of unexpected homecomings, familial hardship, and fierce devotion to ancestry creates a refreshingly new narrative about Hawai’i, its native people, and their struggle to hold on to their land and culture today.

Sara Kehaulani Goo is a journalist and senior news executive who has led several news organizations including Axios, NPR and The Washington Post. She is the former editor-in-chief at Axios, where she launched the company’s editorial expansion into national and local newsletters, podcasts and live journalism. Before Axios, she led online audience growth as a managing editor at NPR, overseeing the newsroom’s digital news operation. Goo also served as news director at The Washington Post, where she also served as a business editor and reporter. Originally from Dana Point, California, she graduated from the University of Minnesota’s journalism school. She lives in Washington, D.C.

David Greene is an award-winning journalist and New York Times best-selling author. He hosts the weekly public radio program and podcast, Left, Right & Center, whose mission is to remind us that we can still listen to one another – even when we disagree, and even in this political climate. For nearly a decade, David hosted NPR’s Morning Edition as well as NPR’s popular morning news podcast, Up First, guiding listeners through turbulent elections, a world-altering pandemic and fights for social change in our country.

David stepped away from Morning Edition in 2021 and co-founded a new company, Fearless Media, which collaborates with KCRW and PRX to produce Left, Right & Center.

Kindly RSVP so we can plan accordingly. Please stay home if you feel sick.

Where: Bel Canto Books

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90807

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bcb-x-npr-present-kuleana-by-sara-kehaulani-goo-tickets-1373505033529?aff=oddtdtcreator

TICKETED: Rachel Kushner, with Stephanie Danler, & Creation Lake at Book Soup – In-Person Event

Rachel Kushner, in conversation with Stephanie Danler, will discuss Creation Lake.

Creation Lake is a novel about a secret agent, a thirty-four-year-old American woman of ruthless tactics and clean beauty who is sent to do dirty work in France. “Sadie Smith” is how the narrator introduces herself to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to her lover, Lucien, a young and well-born Parisian she has met by “cold bump”—making him believe the encounter was accidental. Like everyone she targets, Lucien is useful to her and used by her. Sadie operates by strategy and dissimulation, based on what her “contacts”—shadowy figures in business and government—instruct. First, these contacts want her to incite provocation. Then they want more.

In this region of old farms and prehistoric caves, Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the young activists who believes that the path to emancipation is not revolt but a return to the ancient past. Just as Sadie is certain she’s the seductress and puppet master of those she surveils, Bruno is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story.

Written in short, vaulting sections, Rachel Kushner’s rendition of “noir” is taut and dazzling. Creation Lake is Kushner’s finest achievement yet—a work of high art, high comedy, and unforgettable pleasure.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 7 pm – 8 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/ticketed-rachel-kushner-conversation-stephanie-danler-discusses-signs-creation-lake

Other Worlds Book Club: Of Monsters and Mainframes at pages: a bookstore – In-Person Event

Join participants to discuss Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove.

Spaceships aren’t programmed to seek revenge—but for Dracula, Demeter will make an exception.

Demeter just wants to do her job: shuttling humans between Earth and Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately, her passengers keep dying—and not from equipment failures, as her AI medical system, Steward, would have her believe. These are paranormal murders, and they began when one nasty, ancient vampire decided to board Demeter and kill all her humans.

To keep from getting decommissioned, Demeter must join forces with her own team of monsters: A werewolf. An engineer built from the dead. A pharaoh with otherworldly powers. A vampire with a grudge. A fleet of cheerful spider drones. Together, this motley crew will face down the ultimate evil—Dracula.

The queer love child of pulp horror and ​classic ​sci-fi, Of Monsters and ​Mainframes ​is a dazzling, heartfelt odyssey that probes what it means to be one of society’s monsters—and explores the many types of friendship that make us human.

Where: pages: a bookstore

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 7 pm

C.B. Lee, in conversation with Dahlia De La Vega and Elyse Dinh, will read from and discuss Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe, a sapphic YA fantasy.

A book signing will follow. This is a ticketed event.

NOTE: RSVP and details at website.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232

Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets

At Skylight: Claire Jia & Wanting at Skylight – In-Person Event

Claire Jia will present and discuss her debut novel, Wanting.

A searing debut novel of envy, longing, and regret across three lives and two countries that asks how far we’ll go for a friendship, a romance, a dream.

Ye Lian is thriving in Beijing. She has a well-paid job, a nice boyfriend, and plans to marry and move into a luxury high-rise apartment. She’s wanting for nothing–until her childhood best friend, Luo Wenyu, comes whirling back into her life after a decade in California with seemingly everything–a successful career as an influencer, a millionaire American fiancé, and a bespoke mansion in the Beijing suburbs–throwing Lian’s own reliable choices into high relief.

As the two women rekindle their friendship, Wenyu reveals a shocking secret about a past love that pushes Lian to question her own relationship. A few neighborhoods away, aging architect Song Chen is forced to confront his own past and the dissolution of his marriage as he’s tasked with building Wenyu’s dream home. And when the dark side of Wenyu’s enviable life emerges and threatens everything Lian and Wenyu have built for themselves, they must make a choice between the stable known and the frightening unknown that may have devastating and unexpected consequences.

In girlhood memories and karaoke afternoons in Xidan Square, in aspirational YouTube channels and billboard ads, in private hotel rendezvous and secret WeChat messages, Claire Jia’s debut novel is a love letter to friendship; a powder keg of impossible, interwoven desires; a siren song that explores why, even as it destroys us, we always want more.

Claire Jia is a writer from the suburbs of Chicago. Her work has appeared in The New York TimesModern Love column, The Rumpus, Reductress, and more. She writes for television and video games, including the 2024 Peabody Award-winning We Are OFK. Her family is from Beijing, and nothing puts her at peace like haggling in a chaotic Beijing marketplace. She lives in Los Angeles with her friends. Wanting (Tin House) is her debut novel.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Skylight

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 7 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90027

Lina’s father had suggested she go “someplace different” for the summer, and she’s beginning to wish she hadn’t listened. She could be at her grandma’s house in Nagano now, instead of trudging through a forest in search of a town that might not even exist. But when a gust of wind carries off her umbrella, it leads Lina down a secret path between the trees to a strange and incredible world. In the hidden village of Misty Valley, centaurs roam the cobblestone streets and gnomes visit shops stuffed with spellbooks and enchanted desserts. All magic has a dark side, though, and sometimes even sorcerers need a human’s helping hand.

Now, fifty years after its debut and decades of blockbuster success in Japan, Sachiko Kashiwaba’s acclaimed novel is available in English and certain to delight readers of all ages.

Sachiko Kashiwaba is a prolific writer of children’s and young adult fantasy whose career spans more than four decades. Her works have garnered the prestigious Sankei, Shogakukan, and Noma children’s literature awards, and have recently been animated as the films The Wonderland and The House of the Lost on the Cape. Her novel Temple Alley Summer, illustrated by Miho Satake and translated by Avery Fischer Udagawa, won the American Library Association’s 2022 Mildred L. Batchelder Award. She lives in Morioka, Iwate.

Avery Fischer Udagawa grew up in Kansas and studied English and Asian Studies at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. She holds an MA in advanced Japanese studies from the University of Sheffield. She has studied at Nanzan University, Nagoya, on a Fulbright fellowship, and at the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies, Yokohama. She writes, translates, and works in international education near Bangkok, where she lives with her bicultural family.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Vroman’s

Date: Tuesday the 1^st

Time: 7 pm

Address: 695 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA 91101

Website: https://vromansbookstore.com/event/2025-07-01/sachiko-kashiwaba-avery-fischer-udagawa

Sunless Sea Poetry Series & Open Mic Show at Qusqo Bistro and Gallery – In-Person Event

The Sunless Sea Poetry and Spoken Word Show is an open mic event offered on the First Tuesday of the month and performed at Qusqo Bistro on Santa Monica Blvd, near Barrington, in West Los Angeles. Our concept of poetry is broad and collaborative, so we are open to musicians, comedians, visual artists and creatives in any other medium and genre. We encourage everybody to share their art and influences here and in person at the show. We also encourage promotion, networking, and collaboration. Enjoy!

Where: Qusqo Bistro and Gallery

Date: Tuesday, the 1^st

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

First show of summer! As ICE and law enforcement continue to tear at our communities, this will be a season of showing up for each other. We protect ourselves.

Next Tuesday. After two shows away, we’ll be back in the courtyard. Cross your fingers. 😬

@kotolan is Indie Synth Pop/City Pop band. Los Angeles.

@emily.okamoto is an artist.

@shinkawasaki is a producer of sound and vision infusing cultures across the Pacific Ocean. Supporting immigrant rights via Bandcamp.

Tyson Atlas N/A

@kwonixmusic is a musical duo that melts together jazz-adjacent freedom with neo-soul textures.

DJ: henawicked

Want to perform for our Open Mic? Make sure to sign up for our lottery by 6:40 pm, there will only be 3 spaces available, two performances per performer per season please! We may ask to review your content. Please read the rules at https://www.tuesdaynightproject.org/how-to-perform

As a reminder, masking is required in our space, and we will have masks available on site. If you can’t join us in-person, we will continue to stream our shows on YouTube in our link in bio.

Where: Union Center for the Arts

Date: Tuesday, the 1^st

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Address: 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles, CA 90012

Where: Cobalt Poets – Online Zoom Event

Date: Tuesday, the 1^st

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

The nation’s largest weekly spoken word Open Mic event is 26 years strong. DPL is a community space for every poet to be heard. They provide a platform to celebrate poetry while using it as the foundation for creativity, innovation, and expression across an array of media outlets.

Featuring J.P. Saxe.

$10 donation. Do NOT line up prior to 7:30 pm Free parking adjacent to the theater.

Masks are encouraged.

Where: Greenway Court Theatre

Date: Tuesday, the 1^st

Time: 9 pm – 11 pm

Address: 544 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036

After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in Nana’s crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. Finally, back together one last time, when the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. Then at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed. With a wicked wink to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, Daisy Darker’s unforgettable twists will leave readers reeling.

Where: San Dimas Senior Center

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 201 E. Bonita Ave., San Dimas, CA

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13727053

Afternoon Book Club: The Backyard Bird Chronicles at Westlake Village Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us as we read The Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan. For adults.

Where: Westlake Village Library

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 12 pm – 1 pm

Address: 31220 W. Oak Crest Dr., Westlake Village, CA 91361

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13662685

Mystery Book Club: The Mistress of Bhatia House at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Join us as we read The Mistress of Bhatia House by Sujata Massey. For adults.

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 2 pm – 3 pm

Address: 29901 Ladyface Ct., Agoura Hills, CA 91301

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13808802

Poets Café via KPFK 90.7 FM – Live On-Air Event

Poets Café celebrates Poetry. This program is a weekly half-hour literary arts discussion and reading program featuring guest authors and their works.

Poetry From Around the World is a segment of this series offered monthly on the 2^nd Monday of the month on KPFK Los Angeles 90.7 FM.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: KPFK 90.7 FM

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 2 pm – 2:30 pm

Address: On-air Event (live)

Website: https://www.kpfk.org/on-air/poets-cafe/

Classics Book Club: A Raisin in the Sun at East Los Angeles Library, LACL – In-Person Event

Participants will discuss the seminal play, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. For adults.

Centering on the Youngers, a Black working-class family living in Chicago’s South Side, the play explores the Black experience as the family awaits a $10,000 life insurance check. This money could fulfill all their dreams; however, each member of the family has a differing version of what those dreams are.

Copies of the book will be available at the circulation desk. The program will take place in the Chicano Resource Center. Space is limited to ten participants, so pick up your copy soon!

Light refreshments provided courtesy of Los Amigos of East Los Angeles Library.

Where: East Los Angeles Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 4 pm – 5:30 pm

Address: 4837 E. 3^rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90022

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13915501

Be the Change: Social Justice Writing Workshop with James Coats – Online Event

Be the Change, a Social Justice Writing Workshop, is held every 1^st Wednesday of the month and led by poet and author James Coats.

Workshop is free: name your own price.

NOTE: See site for RSVP and details.

Where: Online Event

Date: Wednesday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event Zoom ID: 826 5843 0669 Password: justice

Jessica Wilson Cardenas is the founder of the Los Angeles Poet Society.

Guests: TBA

This program is offered weekly on radio in Los Angeles 101.5 FM.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: 101.5 FM

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: On-air Event (live at 101.5 FM)

Margaret Elysia Garcia (she/her) is the author of the poetry collection the daughterland, of the short story collection Graft, and the poetry chapbook Burn Scars. She writes a history column for High Country Life, a regional California magazine covering the eastern Sierra Nevada.

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: 6040 N. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90042

Website: https://northfigbookshop.com/event/#calendar-8a0f87f6-17d6-4f10-9815-04df4c8251ba-event-dd67528f-6513-440b-9cbd-9dd32779cab8

Mystery Book Club: The Mistress of Bhatia House at Agoura Hills Library, LACL – Online Event

Join us to discuss Sujata Massey’s The Mistress of Bhatia House. For adults.

To participate in this virtual meeting, contact Nina Hull at 818-889-2278 or nhull@library.lacounty.gov

Where: Agoura Hills Library, LACL

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: Online Event (see site)

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13808804

Poetry Club: Fady Joudah at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Each month, members will read the chosen poetry book and bring their favorite selections to share and discuss. Participation is free; just come with an open mind! Whether poetry is daunting or your passion, we’d love to have you!

Our inaugural selection is […] by Fady Joudah.

About the book:

From one of our most acclaimed contemporary writers, an urgent and essential collection of poems illuminating the visionary presence of Palestinians.

Fady Joudah’s powerful sixth collection of poems opens with, “I am unfinished business,” articulating the ongoing pathos of the Palestinian people. A rendering of Joudah’s survivance, […] speaks to Palestine’s daily and historic erasure and insists on presence inside and outside the ancestral land.

Responding to the unspeakable in real time, Joudah offers multiple ways of seeing the world through a Palestinian lens—a world filled with ordinary desires, no matter how grand or tragic the details may be—and asks their reader to be changed by them. The sequences are meditations on a carousel: the past returns as the future is foretold. But “Repetition won’t guarantee wisdom,” Joudah writes, demanding that we resuscitate language “before [our] wisdom is an echo.” These poems of urgency and care sing powerfully through a combination of intimate clarity and great dilations of scale, sending the reader on heartrending spins through echelons of time. […] is a wonder. Joudah reminds us “Wonder belongs to all.”

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 6:30 pm – 8 pm

RECESS Open Mic is at SIPA HQ on Wednesdays.

This dynamic open mic is the most accessible public program in the Palms Up Academy curriculum and manifests their mission statement in a physical (and digital) space.

Join them at the intersection of Historic Filipino town & The World: Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.

NOTE: See site for RSVP, cost, guidelines, and details.

Where: SIPA HQ

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 7 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm; Open Mic at 8 pm)

Address: 3200 W. Temple St., Ste. 100, Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://www.palmsupacademy.com

Book Event: Weezy WTF, with Shan Boody, & No Holes Bar at Reparations Club – In-Person Event

Join Rep Club for the book event for No Holes Barred with Decisions, Decisions co-host Weezy WTF, moderated by Shan Boody.

A provocative and playful exploration that aims to destigmatize kink while educating, inspiring, and promoting sexual and mental health. Thoughtful, painfully honest, and, at times, hilarious, this book offers longtime fans of the podcast and curious newcomers a deep dive into sexual mores, along with answers to the most burning questions Mandii and Weezy have been asked, including:- How can women embrace and own their sexuality without apology or shame?—How can you tell when a relationship has run its course?—What’s the best way to forgive ourselves for our reckless choices in our youth?- How do we stay grounded while balancing the desire to “have it all”? Perfect for fans of Come as You Are and Smart Sex, No Holes Barred offers a bold, modern perspective on the timeless dynamics of intimacy and sex.

WEEZYWTF is a Pisces living between New York and Los Angeles. With a corporate background, she never expected dating app adventures to lead her to becoming a full-time podcaster. After opening the production company WTFmedia, its fast success grew to four locations in the US. Weezy has since produced shows for Malcolm Gladwell, Kenya Barris, DJ Drama, and more. You can catch her at her fitness studio, TRAPHAUS, in NYC or on her TV show Sex $ells. Follow her on Instagram @WeezyWTF.

Where: Reparations Club

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 7 pm (Doors at 6:30 pm)

Where: 3054 S. Victoria Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90016

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-event-no-holes-barred-w-weezy-wtf-shan-boody-tickets-1421451071419?aff=oddtdtcreator

At Skylight: Tamara Yajia, with Mark Duplass, & Cry for Me, Argentina, at Skylight – In-Person Event

Tamara Yajia, in conversation with Mark Duplass, will present and discuss Cry for Me, Argentina.

This book is a hilarious, moving memoir by Argentine-American comedian Tamara Yajia about growing up between two worlds.

From the day she was born, Tamara Yajia entered the world on a wave of absurdity. She was the newest member of a family no one would call normal, from her grandfather the salami obsessed poppers salesman, to her mother, the OnlyFans model. Not only will her family try anything once, like moving to the United States and opening a food stand named Sexy Chicken; they’ll try anything multiple times, like moving back to Argentina, then back to the United States, all while Tamara manages to achieve some success as a preteen child actress after a jaw-dropping performance where she strips down to a garter belt in front of a crowd of rabbis.

The road doesn’t get easier for a twelve-year-old Argentinian Jew trying to make it big in Orange County. The disappointment of giving up her childhood career as a performer makes for a rather tumultuous coming of age. But through grit, hustle, and a series of creative endeavors like joining a girl band, and performing her own one-woman show, Cumming of Age, Tam has made it through, and she’s ready to spill some shit-figuratively and literally.

Featuring an unlikely combination of comedy and tragedy, generational struggle, and filthy sex jokes, Tamara Yajia’s debut memoir is the messy, blazing story of a young Argentine trying to survive while holding on to her confidence, ambition, and sense of humor.

Tamara Yajia is an Argentine writer, comedian, and ex-child star who authored the 2022 poetry collection Poems I Wrote While Taking A Shit. She also wrote and starred in a one-woman show Cumming of Age. Tamara has written for ClickHole, Funny or Die, and several comedy series, including Acapulco, This Fool, and the upcoming Netflix series Strip Law. Currently, she’s developing a show for Apple. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and her dog Odie, who just pooped in the living room.

Mark Duplass is an award-winning actor, filmmaker, and producer. As an actor, Mark has appeared in a wide range of film and television projects including the Apple+ series THE MORNING SHOW for which he received a 2020 and 2024 Emmy nomination, and a 2022 Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Mark was also one of the stars of the acclaimed HBO show TOGETHERNESS, a series he co-created with his brother Jay. Mark’s many on-screen feature film credits include: THE PUFFY CHAIR, which he also co-wrote and co-directed, the indie-sensation HUMPDAY, the Gotham award-winning YOUR SISTER’S SISTER, the Oscar-winning ZERO DARK THIRTY, the contemporary classic sci-fi films THE ONE I LOVE and SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED, BOMBSHELL opposite Charlize Theron, Mel Eslyn’s directorial debut BIOSPHERE opposite Sterling K. Brown, PADDLETON with Ray Romano and the CREEP horror franchise. CREEP was recently adapted into a limited series THE CREEP TAPES (co-written by and starring Mark), which was released by Shudder in 2024.

Where: Skylight

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.skylightbooks.com/event/skylight-tamara-yajia-presents-cry-me-argentina-w-mark-duplass

Anansi Writers Workshop at The World Stage – In-Person Event

The Anansi Writers Workshop was founded in 1990 by Kamau Daáood, Akilah Oliver, Nafis Nabawi and Anthony Lyons. In 1993, Michael Datcher initiated the development of a three-part format for the workshop. Our tradition of a community workshop began in the late 1960s at the Watts Writers’ Workshop, where World Stage co-founder Kamau Daáood started his writing career. Hosted by Jessica Gallion aka “Yellawoman.”

• 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm — Formal workshop;
• 8:30 pm – 9:00 pm — TBA;
• 9:05 pm – 10:00 pm — Open mic.

Suggested: $10.00 Donation via PayPal: The World Stage Gallery.

NOTE: See site for further details and any change in the schedule. Contact kaliflowers@gmail.com or call (323) 293-2451. 

Where: The World Stage (use left rear entrance)

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 7:30 pm – 10 pm

Address: 4321 Degnan Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008

Website: https://www.instagram.com

Story Salon: Theme TBA at Art Parlor in Valley Village – In-Person Event (Check to Verify)

Join us for a night of storytelling, theme TBA!

Storytellers coming soon!

Where: Art Parlor

Date: Wednesday the 2^nd

Time: 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm (Doors at 7 pm)

Address: 5302 Laurel Canyon Blvd., Valley Village, CA 91607 

Website: CHECK to VERIFY

Wednesday Night Poetry Workshop with Tom Laichas via Beyond Baroque – Online Event (CHECK TO VERIFY)

The West Coast’s longest-running free poetry workshop is offered by Beyond Baroque on Zoom and welcomes new and seasoned poets to share their work and provide feedback. Please be prepared to share one poem. This workshop will be hosted via the Zoom video-conferencing platform. Please be prepared to share one poem.

Please spend some time before the workshop learning how to share documents via Zoom. It will keep the session moving if you’re able to make your poem viewable quickly and easily. An instructive video is available on the site.

The workshop can sometimes reach high levels of attendance, which means not everyone will get a chance to read every session.

Tom Laichas is author of four books of poetry, including Three Hundred Streets of Venice California (FutureCycle Press, 2023) and the forthcoming Landscapes From An American Afterlife (The Los Angeles Press, 2025). His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Plume, BarBar, The Los Angeles Times, the Irish Times, The High Window Review (UK), and elsewhere. He is the winner of poetry prizes from Jabberwock Review, Puerto del Sol, and Prime 53, and has been shortlisted in competitions sponsored by The Moth (Ireland), Aesthetica, Arts & Letters, New Letters and Gunpowder Press. He lives with his family in Venice, California.

NOTE: See site for further details, tickets, and information. 

Where: Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: Online event (see site)

Website: https://beyondbaroque.org/free_workshops.html

Poetry Nights with East Los Soul at East Los Angeles Rising Youth Club – In-Person Event

East Los Soul presents Poetry Nights every Wednesday from 8 pm – 9:45 pm at East L.A. Rising Youth Club. Poetry starts at 8:15 pm.

Featuring theme: TBA

Hosted by John White, with vibes by DJ Hennytee.

Where: East Los Angeles Rising Youth Club

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 8 pm – 9:45 pm (Doors at 7:30)

Host Ben Trigg and Two Idiots Peddling Poetry welcome featured guests: 

$4 cover fee, cash only See less.

$4 cover fee

Where: The Ugly Mug, Orange

Date: Wednesday, the 2^nd

Time: 8 pm – 10 pm

Address: 261 N. Glassell St., Orange, CA

Website: https://www.facebook.com/events

Lit Angels: Heal Through Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Let Francesca help you with all aspects of your writing!

Do you want to write professionally or for personal satisfaction and healing but aren’t sure where to start and need some inspiring tips and support? Do you have a project that needs revision? Are you feeling stuck creatively? Join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a discussion of her 12 Questions followed by free writing and Q&A. Come be a part of the supportive Lit Angels writing community and consider writing a story to share at our Valentine’s event on 2/7 for possible submission in Lit Angels Journal.

About the instructor:

Francesca Lia Block is the author of more than thirty books of fiction, non-fiction, short stories and poetry, and has written screenplay adaptations of her work. She received the Spectrum Award, the Phoenix Award, the ALA Rainbow Award and the 2005 Margaret A. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as other citations from the American Library Association, and from the NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, and PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY. Currently she teaches creative writing at UCLA Extension, Antioch University, Pocket MFA, and numerous workshops across the country. Francesca also edits LIT ANGELS, a literary journal available on Substack. Her latest novel is House of Hearts now out in paperback. https://www.francescaliablock.com/

Tuesdays & Thursdays @10AM | $15

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 3^rd

Time: 10 am – 11 am

Join us for a lively discussion of The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro. Books are available for check-out at the library. For adults.

Where: Hermosa Beach Library, LACL

Date: Thursday, the 3^rd

Time: 10:30 am – 11:30 am

Address: 560 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

Join LA County Library for a conversation that answers the question: Is hair discrimination racial discrimination? Learn about the CROWN Act, why this legislation is important, and why natural hair styles need to be protected.

Also inspired by the book, Don’t Touch My Crown.

Featuring: Holly Mitchell, LA County Supervisor, 2nd District and Kristin Rowe, Associate Professor of American Studies, Cal State, Fullerton.

Moderated by Skye Patrick, LA County Librarian.

Reception to follow conversation from 7 – 7:30 pm.

Seating is limited; advanced registration is required.

Where: A.C. Bilbrew Library, LACL

Date: Thursday, the 3^rd

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Address: 150 E. El Segundo Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90061

Website: https://visit.lacountylibrary.org/event/13951652

Aperitivo Hour at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us for our “Aperitivo Hour” – an evening of refreshment and connection at Village Well! It’s time to put our laptops away and create space for community, rest, and enjoyment. Sip a happy hour drink and listen to live music from The Front Yard. See you there!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Thursday the 3^rd

Time: 6 pm – 7:30 pm

Join us for live poetry, art and music at is honored to partner with @writebloodypublishing for an art show featuring poetry and music on Thursday, July 3rd, from 6 pm – 9 pm.

Sponsored by @losmolinosbeer.

Matthew Cuban Hernandez is a poet, emcee, speaker, actor, and performance coach from Jacksonville, Florida. He has toured as far as Abu Dhabi and nearly every major city in the United States and Europe, performing, teaching and coaching poetry. A teaching artist for over 15 years, Matthew has spent the last ten years working in youth detention centers across Los Angeles County, currently serving as the Director of Camp Programming for Street Poets, Inc. In addition, he is a current Lead Teacher and Co-Founder of Spoken Literature Art Movement.

K Mitchell is a poet, shit-talker and a Long Beach Poet.

David A. Romero is an American spoken word artist, poet, and activist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is a graduate of the University of Southern California and is the second spoken word artist to be featured on All Def Digital, a YouTube channel from Russell Simmons. He is the author of My Name is Romero and Dimond Bars II, both published by FlowerSong Press.

There will also be musicians and a demonstration by the Magic Chef.

Come for the poetry, stay for the art, food and beer (or the sparkling water for our sober friends)! 555 W. 5th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731. FREE.

Where: Los Molinos Beer, San Pedro 

Date: Thursday the 3^rd

Time: 6 pm – 9 pm

Address: 555 W. 5^th St., San Pedro, CA 90731

Website: https://www.instagram.com/p/DLIm2XQSy5f/?hl=en

Lit Angels: Morning Writing with Francesca Lia Block at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Many people believe that morning writing practice is key to finding your voice, your story and, in this case, your community! At the Village Well!

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at 8:30 am come join acclaimed author and writing instructor Francesca Lia Block for a brief intro and 40 minutes of free writing on any topic without judgement. Afterwards, you will be able to share a bit about your process and ask Francesca questions about your writing.

About the instructor:

Come make some magic at the Village Well! All genres and levels are welcome!

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 4^th

Time: 8:30 am – 9:30 am

Address: 9900 Culver Blvd. #1B, Culver City, CA 90232

¡Hora de cuentos bilingüe! Exponer a tus hjijos a varios idiomas es de gran beneficio para su aprendizaje y desarrollo, y qué mejor que hacerlo en esta divertida actividad en donde leeremos un maravilloso cuento en inglés y en español.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Friday the 4^th

Time: 11 am

 This event is a holiday celebration in a backyard in the firework capital of the world. Darly Gusin and others will be in attendance, and he also will be reading the most anti-patriotic anti-capitalist anti-Stephen Miller poetry! There will be food!

BYOB

Donations encouraged.

Tattoo by @bon3dust

Where: DM for address. 

Date: Friday the 4^th

Time: 5 pm

Address: See above

See you NEXT WEEK for a night of local talent, food, coffee and cocktails at The Den Cafe. A stage that’s been a home for OC’s artist since 1999.

Sign-ups start at 5:30 with @rodharrison66

Music starts at 6 pm

Spoken word and poetry are welcome!

Where: The Den Café

Date: Friday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm (Doors at 5:30 pm)

Address: 125 N. Broadway, Santa Ana, CA 9270

We give youth the freedom to express themselves without judgment and find personal satisfaction and acceptance of their own unique voices.

Our goal is to open up an area of expression for those that don’t have area to express. We give youth the opportunity and freedom to express themselves without judgment and find personal satisfaction and acceptance of their own unique voices. Children between the ages of 7 and 17 will have the opportunity to write, sing, recite, dance, scat, rap, heal, rebuild, and sell their he/art.

Youth Workshops: The Watts Prophets Hip Hop Choir provides writing workshops, vocal, music, poetry, book making and greeting card making classes that culminates in a Community Arts Faire giving children the opportunity to express themselves freely and let them know their voice is valuable. The workshops are designed to foster creativity and critical thinking create entrepreneurs and promote a deeper understanding of social issues through the exploration of art.​

Students discover the magic of theater through the process of rehearsing and performing, empowering their social and public speaking skills. They learn the art becoming an entrepreneur creating manufacturing and selling their art. The group uses poetry essays and stories about their life experiences as a form of healing and rebuilding. We provide a four-week symposium and an unforgettable educational experience that leaves a lasting impact on students’ lives.

NOTE: Free event, but ticketed; see site.

Where: Inglewood Playhouse

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 10 am – 2 pm

Address: 600-698 North Park Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90302

Please email eaglrk@lapl.org for the writing prompt.

Where: Eagle Rock Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 10 am

Address: 5027 Caspar Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90041

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/western-edge-writers-1

Allendale Book Club: A Painted House at Allendale Branch Library, Pasadena PL – In-Person Event

Join the discussion of A Painted House, a novel by John Grisham.

Where: Allendale Branch Library, Pasadena PL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 10:30 pm – 11:30 pm

Join the discussion of The Sweetness of Water, a novel by Nathan Harris.

Where: Los Feliz Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90027

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/book-club-4

Saturday Morning Book Discussion: Pride and Prejudice at Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

We continue reading off of the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2024. Drop by for great conversation, good company, and coffee! Copies are available in print, and as ebooks on hoopla & Libby.

July 5: Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen (250th birthday celebration!)

Where: Palms – Rancho Park Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 11 am

Address: 2920 Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/saturday-morning-book-discussion-0

Kids Storytime with Mượn Thị Văn & You Make the World at Village Well Books & Coffee – In-Person Event

Join us every Wednesday and Saturday for a storytime amongst the cozy bookstacks of Village Well!

This July 5th, we’re thrilled to welcome to the store author Mượn Thị Văn, reading from the picture book You Make the World.

Reserve your tickets on EVENTBRITE!

Mượn Thị Văn is the author of many acclaimed picture books. From her debut, In a Village by the Sea (2015), to her latest, If You Want to Be a Butterfly (2023), her books have earned many distinctions, including a California Book Award, an Irma Black Honor, and a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection. Her recent book Wishes, with Victo Ngai, won the Margaret Wise Brown Prize and was named the #1 Best Picture Book of 2021 by BookPage. Her books have been translated into multiple languages, including Vietnamese, Nepali, Sepedi, and Tamil. Mượn Thị Văn lives and works in California.

You Make the World is a fantastical journey between a father and child and the self-discovery of the love and power within. Throughout their adventure together, the father describes his child’s contagious energy and range of strong emotions as having the same intensity and beauty as the natural world. Mượn Thị Văn’s acclaimed lyrical style shines in this poetic affirmation of one’s own power. Award-winning illustrator duo Phung Nguyen Quang and Huynh Kim Lien’s stunning art captures the magic of imagination. Together, this book is a work of art in every sense of the way and truly sings from the pages.

Where: Village Well Books & Coffee

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

A wild exploration of stardom and its price from Babydaddy of the Scissor Sisters in his comics writing debut!

A reclusive rock star receives a mysterious package that forces him to face both his past and a resistance movement that represents all of the ideals he had once stood for.

In a world where fame can consume the soul, a once-revered musician has chosen isolation over the limelight. But when an unexpected package arrives at his doorstep, he’s thrown into a whirlwind of memories, regret, and a rebellion that seeks to rekindle the ideals he abandoned. Nostaligia is a raw and thrilling exploration of celebrity, redemption, and the power of music, crafted by Scott Hoffman AKA Babydaddy, the award-winning composer and musician behind the Scissor Sisters. With stunning visuals from renowned artist Danijel Zezelj, this gripping tale blurs the line between past and present, forcing its protagonist to face the very essence of what it means to create and believe.

Where: Book Soup

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 12 pm

Address: 8818 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069

Website: https://www.booksoup.com/event/scott-babydaddy-hoffman

Kids Graphic Novel Book Club: Snowcat Prince AND Outsider Kids at Cellar Door Bookstore – In-Person Kids Event

Participants will read and discuss Snowcat Prince by Dina Norlund AND Outsider Kids: (Parachute Kids #2) by Betty C. Tang.

Where: Cellar Door Bookstore

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 1 pm

Where: 473 E. Alessandro Blvd., Suite B, Riverside, CA 92508

Website: https://www.cellardoorbookstore.com/event/kids-graphic-novel-book-club-snowcat-prince-and-outsider-kids

San Pedro Library Book Club: The Good Soldier at San Pedro Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

Come join the San Pedro Library Book Club as we discuss Ford Madox Ford’s novel of love and intrigue, The Good Soldier.

Where: San Pedro Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Join us in-person or via Zoom for Expressions L.A. Poetry Reading Series, featuring poetry readings and open poetry mic.

RSVP:

Please email studio@lapl.org for participation details.

Where: Studio City Branch Library, LAPL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: 12611 Moorpark St., Studio City, CA 91604

Where: Norwood Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 3 pm – 4 pm

Poetry Writing Workshop led by DKC (Submit up to 3 poems totaling no more than 150 lines including the subject of or at least mentioning watermelon or hue for Four Feathers Press online edition: Watermelon Hues by emailing donkingfishercampbell@gmail.com by 11:59 pm, July 25th)

Don Kingfisher Campbell hosts and curates these events.

Where: Saturday Afternoon Poetry

Date: Saturday, the 5^th

Time: 3 pm – 5 pm

Address: Online Zoom Event

Website: https://saturdayafternoonpoetry.blogspot.com/

Pondwater Society Poetry Presents: Leia Morning & Beth Marquez at Private Residence – In-Person Event

Pondwater Society presents and host Joanne Qualey Baines welcomes: Leia Morning & Beth Marquez.

We paint, we write, we read, we create things, we talk, we listen.

Where: Pondwater Society Poetry Event

Date: Saturday, the 5^th

Time: 5 pm

Participants will read and discuss Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.

Copies of the book are available at the customer service desk for checkout. For adults.

Where: Lake Los Angeles Library, LACL

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 6 pm – 7 pm

Address: 16921 East Avenue O, #A, Palmdale, CA 93591

Join us for Bixby Knolls First Fridays from 6 – 9 pm with special pop-up vendors, music, and more! Follow our creative collective KUBO LB (@kubo.lb) on Instagram for the latest First Fridays news.

Where: Bel Canto Books, KUBO Long Beach

Date: Friday the 4^th

Time: 6 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3976 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90807

Website: https://belcantobooks.net/events

The Griot Café Presents: Da Boogieman at Shades of Afrika – In-Person Event

Host Tommy Domino welcomes Da Boogieman to The Griot Café in Long Beach on Saturday July 5^th.

Da Boogieman is a poet, actor, playwright, recording artist, poetry slam champion, and activist who will be blessing the Griot Cafe stage on 7/5/25. This is my brotha from another mother. Pull up early. 🎙🎤

$10 cash cover fee

Where: Shades of Afrika

Date: Saturday the 5^th

Time: 7:30 pm

Author James Andrew Dickman presents The Rebel Isadore Samuels, a tour de force with picturesque characters, vivid imagery, and heart-pounding adventure.

Where: The Book Jewel

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 9 am – 1 pm

The Melrose Trading Post is a pioneering arts-based marketplace held every Sunday at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, CA with 275 local creative small business vendors, delicious food booths and local live music.

MTP was founded in 1997 with a mission to champion small businesses, art, and community. The market funds Greenway Arts Alliance’s arts education programming and provides employment and leadership development opportunities for students at Fairfax High School.

JOIN us in space R18 each Sunday, from 11 am – 5 pm.

All poems are donation based, so you name your price.

NOTE: Check every Sunday for story time and reading events

Where: Melrose Trading Post, Greenway Main Stage at Fairfax HS

Date: Sunday, the 6^th

Time: 10 am – 5 pm (market); 11 am – 5 pm (poets on demand)

Address: 7850 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90046

Every Sunday at 11am, bring your little one to enjoy some reading from your local booksellers, special guests, or local volunteers!

Contact us if you would like to be a volunteer reader, and we will see you at the bookstore!

Where: Chevalier’s Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 11 am – 12 pm

Where: 133 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90004

Website: https://chevaliersbooks.com/event/2025-07-06/sunday-storytime-chevaliers

Mimi Slawoff & Historic Los Angeles Roadsides at Once Upon a Time, Montrose – In-Person Event

Explore Historic Los Angeles Roadsides with author Mimi Slawoff. Mimi will be hosting a meet and greet table outside in front of the bookstore to share her photos, stories, and books.

The 23rd Annual Montrose Car Show runs from 9 am to 2 pm on Sunday, July 6th.

If you can’t make it to the event, you can order signed books in advance at website.

Where: Once Upon a Time

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 11 am – 1 pm

Address: 2207 Honolulu Avenue, Montrose, CA 91020

Website: https://www.shoponceuponatime.com/event/historic-los-angeles-roadsides

The Watts Prophets Talk UP not down Young Artists Workshop at Inglewood Playhouse – In-Person Youth (ages 7-17) Event

Part of the Inner-City Cultural Center II Presents collection.

We give youth the freedom to express themselves without judgment and find personal satisfaction and acceptance of their own unique voices.

Our goal is to open up an area of expression for those that don’t have area to express. We give youth the opportunity and freedom to express themselves without judgment and find personal satisfaction and acceptance of their own unique voices. Children between the ages of 7 and 17 will have the opportunity to write, sing, recite, dance, scat, rap, heal, rebuild, and sell their he/art.

Youth Workshops: The Watts Prophets Hip Hop Choir provides writing workshops, vocal, music, poetry, book making and greeting card making classes that culminates in a Community Arts Faire giving children the opportunity to express themselves freely and let them know their voice is valuable. The workshops are designed to foster creativity and critical thinking, create entrepreneurs and promote a deeper understanding of social issues through the exploration of art.​

Students discover the magic of theater through the process of rehearsing and performing, empowering their social and public speaking skills. They learn the art, becoming an entrepreneur, creating manufacturing and selling their art. The group uses poetry essays and stories about their life experiences as a form of healing and rebuilding. We provide a four-week symposium and an unforgettable educational experience that leaves a lasting impact on students’ lives.

NOTE: Free event, but ticketed; see site.

Where: Inglewood Playhouse

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 12 pm – 4 pm

Address: 600-698 North Park Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90302

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-watts-prophets-talk-up-not-down-youth-summer-camp-tickets-1298898914619?aff=erelpanelorg

Inlandia Presents: WRITERS CRAFTAB: “Your Place” Workshop with Brian Dunlap – Online Zoom Event

Brian Dunlap is teaching his 8-week Zoom workshop: “Your Place: The Unexpected Power of Writing about Place,” though Inlandia and would love for you to join. Class begins on Zoom July 6, 1 pm – 3 pm.

This is a class for writers of all levels who are curious about how place shapes story—how history, language, and culture live in the spaces we come from or call home. We’ll explore these ideas together, and by the end, you’ll have written poems or stories rooted in your own geography.

It’s part of Inlandia’s WRITERS CRAFTLAB, and it’s offered on a pay-what-you-can basis: $150 / $250 / $350.

If you love digging into the layers of a place, paying attention to the details others might miss, that reveal a place’s true character, and experimenting with how those details shape your understanding of that place—this is your space. Hope to see you there!

SIGN-UP LINK: https://inlandia-institute.square.site/product/writers-craftlab/266?cs=true&cst=custom

Where: Inlandia Institute. Writers Craftlab

Date: Sunday, the 6^th (and 7 subsequent Sundays)

Time: 1 pm – 3 pm

We meet on the first Sunday of each month in the community room to discuss a mystery, thriller, or suspense book picked by the group. For current titles, please contact the West LA Library at westla@lapl.org or 310-575-8323.

Where: West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL.

Date: Sunday, the 6^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025

Website: https://www.lapl.org/whats-on/events/mystery-book-club-1

Mystery Book Club at West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL – In-Person Event

We meet on the first Sunday of each month in the community room to discuss a mystery, thriller, or suspense book picked by the group. For current titles, please contact the West LA Library at westla@lapl.org or 310-575-8323.

Where: West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL.

Date: Sunday, the 6^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025

Where: West Los Angeles Regional Branch Library, LAPL.

Date: Sunday, the 6^th

Time: 2 pm – 4 pm

Address: 11360 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: North Figueroa Bookshop

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

We invite everyone to start off summer with Sunday Jump at the Pilipino Workers Center in Historic Filipinotown, Los Angeles! On July 6th from 5 – 7 pm, we’ll be celebrating with performances and good vibes. You definitely won’t want to miss it! Open mic sign-ups start at 4:30pm and will be a lottery-based system to ensure fair chances for all. ☀️🎤🎶📝

Our theme this season is: Time Check ⏱️ Living for the day is a call to be present. We define the meaning of who we are by seizing the gift of today. Opportunities come and go and sometimes pass by without us acting on it. While tomorrow is not promised, this moment is yours to make.

@nisa_longga, rapper

Feed the People LA, food and drink vendor

Poetry by Yvonne, typewriting poetry vendor

Urban Tropicals, plant care vendor

Building Press Co., resident vendor

LTSC Changing Tides, community spotlight.

Where: Philipino Workers Center

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 5 pm – 7 pm

Join us along the book tour for Sofia Aguilar’s Amor. She will be joined with poetry and performances by Jocelyne Flores and Alexis Jaimes! And did we mention she is a librarian at the beloved Altadena Library?! We can’t wait for you to join us in supporting this local author.

Amor. is a tender open letter to the author’s lover, referred to only as “amor.” Spanning nearly a decade and dozens of California scenes—from the outskirts of San Francisco to the poppy fields of Chino Hills, from the longing adolescence of a Pomona high school to the cool deserts of Joshua Tree—the author attempts to write down the couple’s origin story and subsequent life together. Through short vignettes, she transforms mundanity into beauty and brings to light the smallest, but most important, acts of affection.

Straddling the boundaries between poetry and prose, fantasy and truth, storytelling and documentation, memory, and myth, she paints a portrait of a relationship formed and moved by honesty, respect, longing, and healing.

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 5:30 pm – 7 pm

Address: 1353 North Hill Ave., Pasadena, CA 91104

Website: https://www.octaviasbookshelf.com/events/amor-author-talk

Farce of July: Poets Over Politicians X Revolutionary Tongues at Barrio Fuerza, San Bernardino – In-Person Event

This event offers an Open Mic, Book Sale, Community Engagement, and a Cookout.

Sign-ups will be from 6 – 8 pm.

5 mins max per reader. Come share a political poem, song, or thought. This is an open space for people to share their thoughts on the current state of our country.

⛓️ Bring some meat, veggies, or vegan protein for the grill.

🏴 We’ll have radical book sale by @pushingdownthewalls including books by @akpressdistro @pmpress @detritus.books

⛓️Zines by @brittlebushdistro @love_and_disorder_

⛓️Raspados/aguas by @next.ancestors

🖤Live art by @alejandra.studio

And the official closing of the @krome_gang art show.

🏴Chapbook release of Billionaires for Breakfast by Peter Lechuga (@handsomeherbivore) & Alma Rosa Azul (@almarosaazul)

& possibly piñata 👀

⛓️***We strongly encourage people to wear mask indoors and will have air filters running during open mic.***

Hope to see y’all there!

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Barrio Fuerza

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 6 pm – 8 pm

Address: 395 N. E St., #102, San Bernardino, CA 92401

With readings by:

Olivia Crandall is a writer, artist, and teacher. She was born in Cleveland, got sober in Chicago, and currently lives in Los Angeles. Her work includes cultural criticism, embroidered garments, and slightly unhinged fiction—all exploring the spaces where high and low meet.

Lillian Feygin N/A

Cora Lee is a National Bestselling author of Regency romance. She went on a twelve-year expedition through the blackboard jungle as a high school math teacher before publishing Save the Last Dance for Me, the first book in the Maitland Maidens series. She then followed it up with six other novels and novellas ranging from sweet and traditional to spicy and suspenseful.

Shy Watson is an incoming PhD candidate in Creative Writing & Literature at the University of Southern California. She has authored two full-length poetry collections: Horror Vacui (House of Vlad) and Cheap Yellow (Civil Coping Mechanisms). Her fiction has appeared in Post Road, Southwest Review, Fence, Joyland, and elsewhere. She earned her MFA from the University of Montana in 2023 and has since received support from Monson Arts and Lighthouse Works.

Mae Andron N/A

NOTE: See site for details.

Where: Stories Books & Café

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 6:30 pm – 9 pm

Address: 1716 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026

Website: https://storiesla.com/events

Local Authors Meet-Up at Underdog Bookstore – In-Person Event

At Underdog Bookstore we love supporting local authors on the shelves and at our signings and panels, but sometimes you just want to turn off the book selling brain and enjoy each other’s company instead.

We hope that these meetups will provide an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and spend time in community. Whether you’re self-published and new to the industry or have trade tales to share from your experience in indie or major publishing—all authors are welcome here.

Our space is food, drink, and pet friendly, so feel free to bring your favorite refreshments and animal companions!

RSVP at website.

Where: Underdog Bookstore

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 7 pm – 9 pm

Address: 312 South Myrtle Ave., Monrovia, CA 91016

Website: https://www.underdogbookstore.org/events/local-authors-meetup-segb8

Queer Romance Book Club: Banned Sinister at The Ripped Bodice – In-Person Event

Queer Romance Book Club is led by bookseller Grace, and participants read across the genre featuring LGBTQIA authors. Everyone is welcome.

This month’s selection is Bad Sinister by KJ Charles.

Where: The Ripped Bodice

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 7:15 pm – 9 pm

Address: 3806 Main St., Culver City, CA 90232 

Website: https://www.therippedbodice.com/events-and-tickets

The Dazed and Confused Poetry Club at The Glendale Room – In-Person Event

Dazed and Confused Poetry Club is hosted by Fernando Funes every 1^st Sunday of the month at The Glendale Room.

Where: The Glendale Room

Date: Sunday the 6^th

Time: 8:30 pm – 10 pm